Maxey leads charge as Sixers rally from 29 down to stun Cavs

PHILADELPHIA — The crowd at Xfinity Arena watched the Sixers cut a 29-point deficit to 10 in the third quarter Thursday night when Tyrese Maxey caught a pass from LeBron James in transition and, without taking a dribble, launched a 3-pointer.

As the ball went through the net, forcing the Cavs to call a timeout, Maxey walked toward the fans behind the scorers’ table and screamed as Jaylen Brown flanked him in celebration and Joel Embiid celebrated on the other end of the court.

On a team laden with stars, it was Maxey who was the conductor of this raucous Philadelphia crowd, which followed his lead all night as the Sixers roared back to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 114-106.

The 29-point comeback was the Cavaliers’ largest blown lead and the Sixers’ largest comeback in the play-by-play era. It was also the largest comeback of James’ now 24-year career.

“It was just a great moment,” said Maxey, who led all scorers with 32 points and six assists. “The crowd was into the game. We were just feeding off the crowd, feeding off our energy, feeding off our resilience.”

Two nights after their season-opening win over the reigning champion New York Knicks, the Sixers were outclassed in nearly every way to begin Thursday night’s game. They turned the ball over, couldn’t get stops and missed layups.

Brown had just four points in his lowest-scoring first half at home since March 2025, while the Sixers’ 15 first-half turnovers were their most in a half since January 2024. The Cavs’ 69-45 halftime lead tied their largest in a season-opening half in franchise history and matched their largest halftime lead over the 76ers in franchise history.

As the first half came to a close, the Xfinity Arena crowd, most wearing the white opening night shirts with the Sixers roster and coach Nick Nurse printed on them, loudly booed.

Maxey said he challenged the group during the intermission.

“I said, well, it’s time to see what we made of. Are we going to be some front-runners and only be happy when stuff is good?” Maxey said. “Or when stuff is bad, are we going to fight and be resilient? And we did that.”

The Sixers responded with a quarter that Brown said “shifted the game,” coming out of the break on an 8-0 run and outscoring Cleveland 37-21 in the third quarter.

Still, the Sixers went into the fourth trailing by eight. It wasn’t until the 6:54 minute mark that they took the lead, when Embiid hit a 16-foot jump shot over center Jarrett Allen that gave Philadelphia its first lead, one it wouldn’t relinquish.

Embiid said the team’s resilience Thursday night was different from past teams he has been a part of during his 11-year Sixers career.

“No shade to anybody that’s been here, but in the past, a lot of people would’ve just laid down and tried to move on to the next one,” Embiid said.

He added: “Yeah, it was different. I said last game, after the game, it just feels different.”

The Sixers were simply a different team in the second half Thursday night, turning the ball over only twice compared with 15 times for the Cavs.

Nurse said the Sixers also struggled in the first half defending the Cavaliers’ mid-pick-and-roll plays. According to GeniusIQ, in the first half, Cleveland ran 27 direct picks and averaged 1.08 points on them. In the second half, they ran 20 direct picks and averaged only 0.56 points. Nurse shifted the team’s defensive assignments, and it worked.

The Cavs scored just 37 points in the second half. Guard Donovan Mitchell, who had 30 points through three quarters, was held to just two points in the fourth, which came with the game out of reach.

“They were just way, way, way tougher than us in the first half,” Maxey said. “They were just punking us honestly, and we did a good job of playing back second.”

Still, James said the Sixers can’t expect to have comeback performances like that regularly.

“You don’t want to rely on that,” James said, laughing. “I think it’s great to know deep down we’re not gonna have that quit mentality … but you don’t want to put yourself in too many of those situations.”

During the Sixers’ comeback, the crowd’s boos turned into raucous cheers. Embiid called it a “top-three” night in his career, while guard VJ Edgecombe said it was the best atmosphere he has played in as a pro. James called Philadelphia “one of the best sports cities.”

“I’ve been here for a long time. … I have no words,” Embiid said. “That was amazing.”